Chic & Unique

Cherry Cool

March 2nd, 2010

Maybe it’s something about Christmas fading into a distant memory, or the hint of the days getting longer and the mornings that bit lighter, but I’m itching for Spring to come.

And who doesn’t love a spring Wedding?

Inspiration comes from the funniest places and I clocked these super cute fondant cakes decorated with cherry blossom and instantly thought of Spring, the blossom, and my Birthday month of April. I actually considered having a cherry blossom themed wedding, but at the end of May, I would have been pushing things a little. Instead, I thought I’d play out my fantasies with this little mood boeard and see if I can inspire you guys to pick up the trend and run with it.

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Image credits: Mini Cherry Blossom Cakes by Peggy Porschen featured in Wedding Magazine. Tiered Cake and Bridal Party from The Knot, Table centre from Boston Avenue Photo via SMP. Stationery by Borrowed Blue Press. Cherry Blossom ring from Astley Clarke.

Super pretty, super feminine and a bit of modern chic thrown in.

This theme would look brilliant in a modern gallery type space, light and airy with blush pink tones and a hint of modern grey to bring the look up to date. Have your maids in mix and match pinks, use oriental style parasols for the formal photos, branches of cherry blossom as your center pieces with dangling crystals and fat pink Peonies wired to them, and a oriental inspired dress with a big obi reminiscent bow at the back. Then funk up your look with this cherry blossom ring. I so want it! (Or how lucky would your maids be to receive a gift like this?)

And where did I find this particular piece of inspiration? Cake Chic by Peggy Porschen.

Yours Truly,

Rebecca.
xoxo

Your Kodak Moment…

February 24th, 2010

One of the things we saw and absolutely loved at the recent Designer Wedding Show (which you can see our film of,) was the BoothNation photobooths.

The very nice man there was more than happy for us to jump in the booth and get some pics to show you guys just how very cool it is. With professional lighting, a wind machine and top quality digital photography equipment the BoothNation booth erases any worries you may have about how you will look – all you have to take care of is the expresion on your face! (- Note to self Rebecca!)

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As you can see for yourself if you check out the site and blog, BoothNation is a genius idea started by Seamus Ryan – and already well respected photographer who started up the Sunday Shoots project and went on to develop that into the BoothNation concept. Already gracing a whole host of celebrity and corporate parties with more big names than you can shake a stick at, now you can have BoothNation at your wedding!

There are several different booths to hire and all come with unlimited photos throughout the hire period. At weddings you can have them customised to suit your style or theme and lend a little bit of informality to proceedings. Aside from having the photos that the guests take, (Erm, cool guest book idea anyone?!) you can pay to have double copies of each shot too.

All the images taken at your wedding are then posted online for guests to purchase should they wish. Even better, if you’re a bit stuck for ideas the in house design team will supply the booth with a selection of props and customise the images so you have for example your wedding date of monogram to personalise the end result.

And if you’re wondering what ours looked like… Here it is!
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I sooooo want one!

Yours Truly,

Rebecca
xoxo

Wedding Trends 2010 by Savoir Weddings… Part 2

February 18th, 2010

And it’s straight back to Josie from Savoir Weddings to carry on telling us all about the top Wedding trends for 2010… I can’t wait to see what’s in store after yesterdays treats!

Centrepieces Get Exciting…

Well, in the sense we see a bit of variety. In contrast with the fussy, often extortionate floral centrepieces of the past we’ve had wildflowers plucked from nature and put into milk bottles, pint glasses, mismatched vases and so on.

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*Images from Eat Drink Chic and Rachel Ray Mag

And this year we see more of the same and it goes one step further. Books, props, herbs, potted plants, old typewriters, origami figures, globes. Anything goes for 2010 really. If you like the look of something or it has some sentimental value, whatever your reasons you can incorporate it into your table plan.

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*Images from Classic Bride and Ruffled.

Attention for the Men Please

Grooms seem to be getting more stylish and playful in their wedding attire these days and I think it’s going to become more ‘acceptable’ for men to take an active role in their wedding. From the planning to the colour palette to what they wear we’re going to be seeing and hearing more from the men. I am Staggered is a great blog for grooms-to-be and I wouldn’t be surprised if in 5 years instead of programmes like Bridezillas we’ll be watching Groomzillas. Although maybe that’s pushing it a little far?!

Anyway here’s some fabulous groom style of which grey seems to dominate…
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*Images from OnceWed.

Non-White wedding dresses

I’m been silently waiting for this to catch on for a while now. Whilst I love white wedding dresses as much as the next girl I have much respect for the bride that bucks this in favour of something a little different. (Cheating a little here as the dress is white but points for the yellow Japanese Obi.)

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*Images from Ruffled, Green Wedding Shoes and SMP.

This is but a handful of wedding trends, if I could, I’d waffle on about them forever. One thing’s for sure in 2010 it’s all about doing it your way. And if blogs are anything to go by couples are getting more creative and open to new ideas. And as the industry catches on there’s just going to be more and more options.

When it comes to wedding trends like any fashion, it’s not about working out what’s cool and doing it, it’s about finding out what you like and doing it. Oh and having fun along the way.

Wise words Josie! Thank you so much for stopping by to share your finds with us. make sure you head on over to Savoir Weddings to check out if Josie can help you to plan your dream day, or pop into the blog for a little more Savoir inspiration!

Yours Truly,

Contra
xoxo

Wedding trends 2010 by Savoir Weddings… Part 1

February 17th, 2010

At Rock My Wedding we like nothing more than a trend and so I was blown away to find a super cool review of upcoming trends for 2010 on Josie Hendricks Blog, the mastermind behind Savoir Weddings.

I hoped that you guys would love it as much as I did so I asked Josie to do a guest post for us and fill you all in on her top trends for 2010. I challenge all of you not to find at least one bit of take- away advice to inspire your wedding to be on-trend and super cool, not to mention all about YOU. So here’s Josie to spill the beans!

I‘m delighted to be asked to write a guest post for Rock My Wedding. Not only do they feature fab weddings but it’s well written and interesting. And based in the UK! Hurrah! We’ve looked a little deeper into some of the trends for I touched on in my blog so without further ado here’s a little selection of what we’ve seen cropping up in the world of weddings and proving to be pretty popular.

Oh and all the photos are from real weddings. :)

Wedding Receptions at Home or The Rise of the Backyard wedding.

There are so many ways to do it – here’s a few examples…
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*Images from GreenWeddingShoes andRuffled.

Love the mismatched vintage chairs, it’s a great look if you’ve got a huge garden.

Perhaps booming because of the recession, weddings at home are increasing in popularity – less showy and extravagant, they can be extra intimate and personal. Think picnic tables with finger food,BBQs and buffets; your mates DJing and dancing to your fave tunes til the early hours (no curfew in your own home); friends camping out in the garden at night so you can carry on the party; when you do it at home you can control all the elements that are tricky when using a venue.

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*Images from Erin.Ever.After and Savoir.

The above left photo is actually from a home wedding we planned last year. In addition to a marquee in the garden there was a fire with benches surrounding it, hula hoops , a flame thrower and the squiggles at the back of the shot spelt out the bride and groom’s names and were lit in a special little ceremony.

There are different challenges however, and if you’re not careful it can end up costing more. The wedding from the last photo was at the bride’s family home and lots of family and friends pitched in to help in different ways such as running the bar, helping keep the buffet stocked up and so on. It needs to be particularly well planned or can be particularly stressful but if the enquiries we get are anything to go by weddings at home are going to be more and more likely in 2010 – 2011.

Mismatched Bridesmaids dresses and Bouquets

Perfect for brides wanting to do things a little bit differently without going crazy, mismatched bridesmaids outfits and flowers is the way forward. Less formal, looks great in photos, perfect for accommodating different shapes/sizes/styles of bridesmaid and with plenty of different options this is a trend I think we’re going to see a lot of.

You can do this lots of ways. Different colours same style like this Mexican inspired wedding. And what is not to love about this bride and her gals?

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*Images from Ruffled and 100 Layer Cake.

Mismatched dresses? Check.
Mismatched colourful bouquets? Check.
Fabulous style? Yep, definitely.

It’s all about mixing it up so it looks artfully and effortlessly thrown together.

Or you can do it similar colours different style… This bride picked the apricot/peach/coral colours from a paint chart and let her bridesmaids choose their dresses. Or pink and red works well in nature and just as well with bridesmaids.
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*Images from Green Wedding Shoes and Our Labour of Love.

Photography with a Sense of Humour

There’s always going to be the die hard fans of traditional photography but across blogs and confirmed by photographers we know there’s a massive increase of ‘fun’ injected into wedding photography. We’ve seen the reportage style become increasingly popular and maybe this is a progression of that.

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*Images from 100 Layer Cake and The Brides Cafe.

Think photo booths at receptions, balloons, silly glasses, shots of people laughing and ‘unposed’. People still obviously want romantic photos they’ll look back on when they’re 85 but we’re going to see an increase relaxed, fun shots for 2010.

I’m loving this. Like, REALLY loving it.

Fabulous ideas that will help you cut costs (high street mix and match dresses anyone?) throw out the rule book and generally get fabulous.

Pop back tomorrow to see the rest of Josies style predictions for 2010.

Yours Truly,

Contra
xoxo

Let Them Eat…..Cheese?

February 4th, 2010

Now I am a big of cake. Especially chocolate cake and Carrot cake. And Victoria sandwich and Lemon drizzle. And those banana cakes you get in Pret a Manger ….and Um all kinds of cupcakes.

Just REALLY love cake.

Question is – what about if you don’t?

What about if the thought of spending a small fortune on a 3 tier W-day extravaganza brings you out in a cold sweat…. or just the thought of anything with sponge and buttercream leaves you well…..bored.

How about a tiered “cheese” cake then? Hmmmm probably seen a few of those already right?

Well how about ( just like the fabulous WINTER WEDDING we featured last week) you have a whole help-yourself-to-deliciousness cheese table. Much like the very popular “dessert” or “sweet” tables we see popping up all over the place. Just instead you swap the sugary stuff for a whole bunch of different varieties of the savory dairy delights….

Simples.

And true to form Rock My Wedding has found some total eye candy perfection for all you fromage lovers over on the BEAUTIFUL Sunday Suppers blog. Seriously if I went to a wedding and they had something like this on offer I would be majorly impressed.

And headed straight for the Wensleydale with cranberries.

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Who thought cheese could look so darn pretty?

And not so difficult to achieve I might add. Source cake/cheeses stands from any tableware hire shops ( I actually found a great similar plain white one at Sainsburys for a fiver), chose your varieties of cheese to suit you from the supermarket or your local farmers market and make cute signs until your hearts content.

On this particular Sunday Suppers number they used pieces of fruit to decorate – I am totally loving the pears and cherries. You could use pretty much anything you fancied too from some exotic kiwi and star fruit to the more traditional red and green grapes.

We’re all about taking a great idea and then stamping your unique style all over it…. as you know.

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Maybe you don’t fancy a whole go-to table and instead would prefer individual cheese plates for your guests. Well Sunday Suppers have that covered too. I’m thinking especially fabulous on long tressle tables for your tent/tipi/marquee. Adore the table runners and the personalised cheese menu’s…..

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Boy am I a sucker for a white tulip.

Simple. Chic. Gorgeous.

As is the entire Sunday Suppers Blog. It is my new “lose yourself within” piece of interweb heaven.

Anyone forgoing cake for something a little bit different?

Do let us know.

Big oh-so-savoury Love

Charlotte xxx

The Princess Of Paper Pretty

January 26th, 2010

Everyone that read my original “You Rock My World” blog will know what a nightmare I experienced with finding pretty paper for my own Big Day. I am glad to report that since starting Rock My Wedding we have discovered all sorts of stationery loveliness that we will continue to share with you.

This particular paper princess will always have a special place in my heart though, not only did Shari Amos the creator and owner of Bijou Woo design a suite of gorgeousness that was totally “us”, she was also one of the loveliest and sweetest ladies I have had the pleasure of meeting in my wedding industry journey so far.

And she put up with my completely Bridezilla-esque last minute colour tweaks and text changes (!)

It gives me great pleasure to share with you the newest styles from Bijou Woo’s chic, unique and utterly delicious latest collection. Shari has kindly offered to share some of the detail behind her business savvyness and stationery fabulousness………

Over to Madam Amos:

I started Bijou Woo 2 years ago and it is really growing! My sister Kelly is now on board, creating a real family service. Having been in the design industry for ten years, I am still amazed at how excited I get when I see the final results, whether it’s designing wedding invitations, name cards, table plans or silly badges for the best men to wear. Maybe I am just a design geek….

Weddings have become a passion of mine, the diversity and ever changing fashions mean that it’s an area that is constantly evolving. It’s a privilege to be part of such an important event, to be involved right from the beginning and to create designs that mean so much to the couple to be. I love hearing how romances were started, how families get involved with the special day and just how much thought and creativity is part of people’s ceremonies.

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Cupcake Cutie

I was inspired by Anne Marie from the Urban Bakery’s delicious creations! It’s brilliant to have such a vibrant and fun design added to the collection.

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Blooming Lovely

Just to prove that inspiration really does come from anywhere, this design was inspired by an amazing photo of some fairy lights which were hanging over a mirror at home. The shapes and forms were just stunning.

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Seeing Spots

This cute, retro design reflects how weddings are now keeping up with the times, long gone are the invites with bows and dried flowers hooray! Pastel prettiness is where it’s at.

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Till Death Do Us Part

Bijou Woo accommodates all tastes and unique styles through their bespoke service. Till Death Do Us Part, was created for a lovely, funky couple who were married recently in Mexico. The bride loved the design so much that she is going to add it to her tattoo collection ….we can’t wait to see where it goes!!

Photography courtesy of Rachel Spivey and cupcakes supplied by The Urban Bakery

A huge Thanks a million to Shari Amos for her piece ( and generally being a huge supporter of RMW)

Big princess paper pretty love

Charlotte xxx